Lynn, Roya, and I have been in the Boston Logan Airport for almost 16 hours. We still have few more hours to go... 3 hrs and 15 min to be more exact.
Lynn is very good at planning trips. Using wise judgment, he scheduled lots of time in between our connector flights for passing through customs. HOWEVER, customs doesn't happen until the end of our trip when we fly into Halifax... So, we had several hours to kill in this nice but otherwise unexciting airport terminal. No big deal.
Then our flight was delayed... and delayed... and delayed... After many hours of waiting, with an exhausted and over-stimulated baby who wouldn't sleep, Lynn went to check the situation with our flight one more time... He came back distraught that it had been delayed another hour, and no sooner had he gotten that bad news out of his mouth than the loud speaker announced what we feared the most... our flight was CANCELLED!!!
The situation was this: no money, little to eat, a crying baby, already late at night, weather somewhere (but unseen) was interrupting flight schedules, new flight not until noon the next day, stranded in the Boston airport.
We picked up our luggage and called my parents toll free number. They agreed to lend us some money for a hotel and cab. HOWEVER, there was a huge lineup at the hotel information station and person after person left dejected as their were NO HOTEL ROOMS AVAILABLE IN ALL OF BOSTON!! Lynn worked diligently at seeking out the one room that had to be available somewhere in Boston, while I nursed and played with the baby. Sure enough, a room available... HOWEVER, the cheapest rate for the night was $425.00!!! That was a no go... needles to say.
At this point, I was thinking, "Other families are in much greater need right now. We're fine. We'll just camp out somewhere in the airport and have a fun little family adventure." The kind man at the information desk recommended the second floor of terminal B as the most comfortable place to sleep, so off we went.
Thankfully we had our luggage, so we were able to lay out a beach blanket, use towels for ourselves, and blankets for the baby. We chose a spot that seemed dark and quiet at the time... Eventually we got the baby to sleep and laid on either side of her to drift into peaceful sleep ourselves...
NONE TO BE HAD!!! The later it got, the colder and louder it got! The lights never dimmed, the loudspeaker never stopped, and the influx of people never diminished. It seemed as though people were yelling right on top of us while we slept fitfully and we soon realized we had chosen a spot (there were not many options) right beside the complementary internet station! By then, it was too late to move because it would wake the baby.
After a terrible night of very little sleep, cold, hungry, and irritable, (Lynn unfortunately got the least sleep of all of us) we rose to face the new day. Lynn went to find boiled water for the baby's bottle while I nursed. As I sat there nursing, hair disheveled and lines on my face, an airport employee walked by and said, "How'd you sleep." "Not well," I responded, as though he couldn't already tell... "You need to go down to information," he continued, "and ask them for a portable bed and they'll give you one. Say you have a baby and they'll give you a bed for sure."
I sat there dumbfounded. The very man who suggested this terrible place to sleep on the floor (my positive attitude had long since waned) was the same man who could have offered us a bed!!! And now this employee has the nerve to tell us we could have had a bed now that its morning and apparently, Lynn had seen him walking to and fro since 4:00 am. Lynn in particular was sitting up obviously awake... Why couldn't he have suggested it then???!!!
The day continues as Lynn and I are humorously cranky and continue to wait... I will close this post with a recent quote from my husband: I am going to assault anyone I see who has had a good night sleep. Here come two unsuspecting, well rested travelers...
